Maternity help ....Any employment lawyers on here advice for a posted worker

[chicitina]

I am trying to gather some information regarding my rights as a "posted worker" are there any employment lawyers familiar with this type of status. In a nutshell I have been posted to Spain to work on a two year contract. Spain has more favourable maternity terms, compared to the UK, but my employer has told me that I fall under UK law so I will only get SMP. In Spain women get 16 weeks full pay amongst other things, since I am living in Spain, is it possible that I can request to be given the equivalent maternity conditions as local employees. I have tried to read up on posted worker status but there is not any information on this. Thanks in advance.

Do you pay tax and NI via UK PAYE or do you pay Spanish social security and tax? You qualify for the maternity benefits under the system you pay into, so it depends how you're paid whether entitled to the UK or Spanish statutory mat benefits.

Hi nerdsville, I pay NI in the UK but tax in Spain.

Someone who knows more will hopefully be along shortly. But my instinct would be that if you pay NI in the UK then any benefits derived from National Insurance (such as maternity pay) would be on UK terms.

Thanks calico, thats what i thought initially, however the posted work directive talks about employees receiving the same remuneration, benefits as local employees despite the laws of home country, but not sure if that applies to maternity.

sorry to derail, but what benefits are more favourable in Spain than UK.

hope you get sorted

at lifebeginswithgin, in spain women receive 16 weeks full pay, plus breastfeeding time, whereas UK it 6 weeks at 90% then smp starts. I do feel its a bit unfair that I fall under UK when I have been living in Spain for over a year now., and I have never actually worked in the UK with this particular company, I was hired to work in Spain and have no contact with their UK branch apart from pay roll.

It's the social security that qualifies you for mat benefits in Spain so if you're not registered for and paying that then you won't be entitled to the Spanish mat benefits. It's a statutory payment so you either qualify or you don't, no discretion on the part of your employer here.

There's no harm in asking your employer to top up your SMP to the same level you would earn if you were on the Spanish system but it would be a gesture of goodwill if they agreed to it, and assuming you're not the only employee posted to Spain they might be worried about setting a precedent.

If you don't ask, you don't get, so might as well suggest it!

thanks nerdsville i willl speak to my employers